Ex city manager gets probation in bribery scheme

LOS ANGELES 
The former city manager of Cudahy has been sentenced to five years of probation for his role in taking a $17,000 bribe from a businessman who wanted to open a medical marijuana dispensary.

A federal judge in Los Angeles also ordered Angel Perales Monday to serve 1,500 hours of community service and pay the $5,000 he accepted from the businessman, who was working as an FBI informant.

The term was much less than the two-year prison sentence prosecutors had recommended.

Prosecutors say Perales brokered the bribery scheme that also involved Cudahy's former mayor, David Silva, and former councilman, Osvaldo Conde. They pleaded guilty to extortion and bribery charges in August.

City News Service says Perales tearfully apologized to the people of Cudahy for violating their trust at his sentencing hearing.